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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375009">Finding Family</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambharsobs/pseuds/sambharsobs'>sambharsobs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cooking, F/F, Family Fluff, Married Life, basically i thought what would life in Brigid be like and then my brain spat this out</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:13:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambharsobs/pseuds/sambharsobs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bernadetta gave up the Varley title and became Petra's wife in the humid temperatures of the Brigid archipelago. The warmth there was something familiar and foreign at the same time.</p><p>Alternatively, the family Bernie makes in Brigid.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Petra Macneary/Bernadetta von Varley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Finding Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i love bernie and petra and i want them to have a happy married life in brigid is all. then my brain did this</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cooking was a group activity in the Brigid palace, and unless you were Petra or Lorcan, nobody was allowed to skip kitchen duty.</p><p> </p><p>Ciara had replaced her sword with a small paring knife to tackle a pile of green, bulbous, water-retaining vegetables. Bernadetta was left in charge of the carrots and potatoes, and Aiden sauntered in with a cut and cleaned...deer, Bernadetta supposed.</p><p> </p><p>He threw the meat onto the counter, only to receive a sharp smack on the back of his head.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Don't leave that there</em>," barked Riona. Bernie's Brigid wasn't where she wanted it to be, but this was a common dialogue exchange she had gotten used to. "<em>Go get it ready. If you mess up the spices, I'll replace the meat with you.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Alright old lady, don't get crabby,</em>" muttered Aiden, only to receive another whack.</p><p> </p><p>A giggle escaped Bernadetta, and she covered her mouth quickly, but by then Aiden had exploded into one of his booming laughs and Ciara was chuckling along with him.</p><p> </p><p>Eyes glassy with age squinted at the three of them, before Riona huffed and poked at the pot on the stove, muttering something about ungrateful kids.</p><p> </p><p>Many years ago, she might have been terrified of Riona, perhaps going as far to defy the sacred kitchen duty list to avoid the septuagenarian. But Bernadetta knew that the prickly exterior was just that - an exterior. The Riona who raised Petra for the first nine years of her life was the same lady who would adjust Aiden's shirt before he left the palace, the Riona who carefully bandaged Ciara's wounds was the same lady who slipped Bernadetta extra pieces of her favourite fruit jelly at dinner.</p><p> </p><p>Petra had told her that Riona had been a fearsome warrior in her time. She was known as the 'Beautiful Blade Huntress', an ode to her looks and her skill. Looking at Riona now, Bernadetta couldn't deny it - despite her age, the maroon-haired woman's arms showed signs of a fighter's life, and her sharp jaw and sharper gaze still held a fierce beauty.</p><p> </p><p>Lorcan had fallen for her the day he saw her, Petra had told her with a laugh. Bernadetta found it hard to picture Petra's grandfather as a lovelorn young man, but Riona was fond of bringing it up during dinner - stories of flowers and poems and magnificent bows given as gifts, all told in a manner to remind the former King of his life-long obligations to her and tease him at the same time, eliciting long-suffering groans from Aiden, Petra and Ciara.</p><p> </p><p>When Bernadetta would see Riona the next day with a vase of flowers, or a new shawl, or a smug grin, Petra's stories became more believable.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Ciara, get me those vegetables,</em>" called Riona from the kitchen. Bernadetta grabbed the plate before Ciara could, and waved away her smile. Ciara had cut dozens of the long, drumstick-like vegetables - Bernadetta couldn't pronounce it, but she knew it was Petra's favourite - into thin disks. The insides resembled that of a wheel, and the 'spokes', for lack of a better word, would catch the thick, spicy sauce typical of Brigid cuisine perfectly while cooking to make a satisfying, crunchy bite.</p><p> </p><p>Riona turned, expecting Ciara, but when she saw Bernadetta, an odd smile crossed her face. Confused but returning the smile, Bernadetta spilled the vegetables into the wok, and an oily hiss filled the air.</p><p> </p><p>Bernadetta reached into the pocket she had sewn into her skirt and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. Riona first threw in a few large spoons of a spicy, tangy powder, then came a few smaller spoons of a lemony, earthen spice, and then a light touch of a peppery, coarse powder that had nearly sealed Bernadetta's throat when she had first tasted it.</p><p> </p><p>One thing Bernadetta learned early on was that Brigid refused to follow any standardised methods of measurements, nor did they have any set quantities for their recipes. She had asked Riona how much of each to put early on, and received a vague, "<em>How much ever until it tastes right,</em>" in response. Bernadetta still wasn't too sure what 'right' tasted like, and it wasn't helped by the fact that none of the spices in Brigid had names in Fodlanese.</p><p> </p><p>But that wasn't going to stop her. The wheel-vegetable was in season for only a few more days, and she wanted to surprise Petra by making her favourite dish. She had been noting down Fiona's every move in the kitchen for the last week in an attempt to get the quantities right. It was easy to think up names for the spices once Bernadetta realised that the recipes were only for her eyes - the spicy, tangy spice was called 'Emperor's Cloak', the lemony, earthen spice was called 'Nap with Lin', and the peppery death spice was just called 'Hubert'.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>You got it?</em>" said Riona, prodding the wok with a spatula.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Yes, th-thank you,</em>" said Bernadetta, stowing away her notes. Riona flung another odd smile in her direction - was Bernie missing something? - and then reached for a tin on a high shelf.</p><p> </p><p>She opened it, and showed the contents to Bernadetta - the tin was filled with a collection of white squares. At Riona's beckoning, Bernadetta pinched off a corner and pressed it to her tongue. It was sweet, tasting of milk and some fruit - banana, thought Bernadetta.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Give this to her,</em>" mumbled Riona conspiratorially, "<em>when you make the dish</em>."</p><p> </p><p>Bernadetta felt her ears heat up - she didn't realise that Riona had caught onto her plans - and nodded. "<em>What is it?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Something she'll like,</em>" said Riona vaguely, turning back to the wok, the odd grin still across her face.</p><p> </p><p>Bernadetta woke up early the next day and slipped into the kitchen. Her dish, while not at Riona's level, still held its own, and she poured the steaming gravy into a bowl and on top of a rich, chunky porridge. She took a piece of the banana treat too, hoping Petra would explain Riona's strange behaviour yesterday.</p><p> </p><p>When Petra noticed the treat - which was after three massive spoonfuls of the dish and three long-winded speeches praising Bernadetta's skills in the kitchen - she gave an explanation, albeit rather shyly. Bernadetta only had to hear 'young married couple' and 'boosting sexuality' before clamping her hands over Petra's mouth and cursing Riona under her breath.</p><p> </p><p>Petra's laugh was warm under her fingertips, and her gaze mischievous as she took a large bite of the sweet.</p>
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